Job's Dilemma (Job 9:1-24)
Bill Long 1/19/05
Until this point in the poetic section of the book, Job has struck out against God while lamenting his situation. He has asked God to "crush" him (6:9); he chided God for paying such close attention to him as if he were the great primeval Sea that God subdued (7:12); he has reversed the meaning of Scripture by denigrating the importance of humans in the scheme of creation (7:17-18). He is not done with his slashing attacks on God by any means. But in these verses in Job 9 there are two distinctly different emotions that Job faces: frustration and self-loathing.
9:1-13
"Then Job answered: 2 "Indeed I know that this is so; but how can a mortal be just before God? 3 If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand. 4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength--who has resisted him, and succeeded?-- 5 he who removes mountains, and they do not know it, when he overturns them in his anger; 6 who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; 7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; 8 who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the Sea; 9 who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; 10 who does great things beyond understanding, and marvelous things without number. 11 Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. 12 He snatches away; who can stop him? Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?' 13 "God will not turn back his anger; the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him."
A. What do you think that Job's first words of v.2 refer to?
B. What is Job's tone in vv. 3-13? Normally when a biblical author composes a hymn celebrating God's qualities he is awed at God's greatness or grateful for God's care. Is that how you read Job's hymn?
C. Why does Job frame his desire now as one in which he wants to "contend" with God? What other ways could he approach God in his situation?
D. A word that recurs in this passage is "anger." God overturns mountains "in his anger" (v. 5) and did not turn back his anger in bowing down the helpers of Rahab, another primeval opponent of God (v. 13). Why the references to anger? Some have suggested that you notice things that reflect your own situation--pregnant women say they notice how many women in the world are pregnant; those looking for mattresses notice ads for mattresses wherever they turn. Is this Job's situation?
9:14-20
"14 How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? 15 Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. 16 If I summoned him and he answered me, I do not believe that he would listen to my voice. 17 For he crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause; 18 he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness. 19 If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? 20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse."
A. I refer to this section as Job's true dilemma. It is the first time where Job is self-reflective about his loss and what he needs to do. Up until this time he has been overwhelmed with grief (3) or has lashed out at God (6-7). Now, he weighs the costs of what has happened in the light of what he might do in his situation. Describe Job's dilemma as presented in these verses.
B. What is the nature of the God whom Job thinks he will be dealing with in these verses?
C. What are Job's options, as he sees them?
D. The ultimate humiliation is described in v. 20. What does that mean?
9:21-24
"21 I am blameless; I do not know myself; I loathe my life. 22 It is all one; therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. 23 When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the eyes of its judges-- if it is not he, who then is it?"
A. vv. 21-22 are so rich that I will devote a separate study just to those two verses (next study). Why would Job loathe his life?
B. How do Job's four brief observations in v. 21 and the first few words of v. 22 lead into the rest of the passage?
C. What does Job accuse God of doing in this passage?
Concluding Thought
The appearance of the word "contend" in 9:3 tells us that we now are in a different world--the world of law and trial. For the next several chapters Job will frame his speech in terms of a lawsuit that he is bringing against God (see ch. 1 to my book A Hard-Fought Hope, 2004). Law then will be the means by which Job tries to regain his self-respect in the midst of crushing loss. He only gets started on that in chapter 9. See how it grows, especialy in Job 13.
Copyright © 2004-2007 William R. Long
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